Garment-rack.



B. BRAGER.

GARMENT RACK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1916- mm, 1 95., Patented July 3, 1917.

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GARMENT RACK.

APPLICATWN FLLED SEPT. 13. 1916- Patented July 3, 1917.

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WITNESS a], {Z I BY O. Arfiy? IE ST BERNHARD BRAGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GARMENT-RACK.

Application filed September To (155 vii/tom it may concern:

Be it known that l, BERNI-[ARD BnAonR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident oi the city of New .York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in garment racks, more particularly to racks from which a plurality of garment hangers may be suspended. The invention pertains 1110170 l'lttl'ticlllttl'ly to racks of the tyi'ie which are designed for use in sales rooms, etc, and take the place of the usual cabinets in which the garmei'its or other goods are stored.

Various types of garment raeks have been 7 proposed hereto-fore for the purpose mentioned, all of the same, however, as far as known, have one serious defect, to wit: They lack means for protecting the garments against dust, etc. In order to prevent the deposit of dust on the garments, it has been customary, before sweeping or otherwise cleaning the salesroom, to wrap a fabric or other suitable means around the rack and the garments suspended therefrom. Unless this is done with painstaking care, obviously, dust will find its way onto the garments. On the other hand, if great care is exercised in applying the fabric or wrapper to the rack and garments, much time and labor is wasted.

The main object of the presentinvention is to obviate the defects of the garment racks above mentioned by providing the same with a curtain that can be easily raised or lowered at will, and which excludes effectively dust from the rack and gari'nents.

A. further object of the invention is to generally simplify and improve the construction of: devices of the type mentioned, and to produce a rack that can be manufactured on a commercial scale,'or in other words one which is not so difficult to build as to be beyond the reasonable cost of such a contrivance.

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement, and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that Specification of Letters Patent.

lPtttGllitGd July 3, 19.17..

13, 1916. Serial No. 119,976.

many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which?- Figure l is a perspective view of a rack constructed in accordance with the present invention, some parts being removed in order to more clearly show its construction; Fig. 2 a portion of a transverse vertical section taken theretl'u'ough, on a larger scale; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device shown in F 2; Fig. l is a section taken on 'line 'r--i of Fig. 3 on a larger scale; and

V Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the detail shown in Fig. 4:.

The rack includes a frame, comprising, preferably, two inverted U-shaped sections 10, which extend transversely and are connected at their upper ends by two horizontally disposed longitudinal tie-rods 12, which constitute, as will hereinafter appear, the goodssupporting members of the rack. The legs of the U-shaped frame sections are provided with bases 11, in which are rotatably mounted balls 11, or other suitable means, for facilitating the shifting of the rack from place to place in the salesroom. Upon each of the frame sections 10 are rigidly mounted two sidewardiy extend ing brackets 13, which project a substantial distance beyond the tie-rods 12 adjacent thereto. These brackets are each provided with a horizontally extending plate member 14, that is disposed some distance above the respective frame section 10. There are altogether four horizontal plate members provided, which are located in the same plane and support the top-cover 15 of the rack. This cover may be made of any suitable material, for instance of sheet metal, and attached to the plate members 14-, for instance, by screws, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The top-cover is oblong in configuration, its longitudinal edges projecting, as the brackets 13, a considerable distance beyond the tie-rods 12, and its transverse edges beyond the frame sections 10 of the device.

In the brackets 13 are rotatably mounted two longitudinally arranged shafts l8 and two transversely disposed shafts 19. These shafts are located immediately below the top-cover of the device, the shafts 18 being arranged near the longitudinal edges and the shafts 19 near the transverse edges of the said cover. The four shafts are geared together in a manner, whereby, when rotation is imparted to one of the same, the others will move therewith. In the case illustrated in the drawings each longitudinal shaft is provided at its ends with two bevel gears 20, and each transverse shaft at its end-s with two bevel gears 21. The bevel gears on acent ends of the shafts are in mesh with each other. One of the shafts 19 is provided with an extension, to which is fixedly attached a crank 22, by which the said shaft may be rotated. One of the shafts 18 has keyed, or other wise fixedly attached, thereto a ratchet-wheel 2,3, with which engages a pawl 24, that is pivoted to one of the brackets 13 and in engagement with a leaf-spring 25, the latter being carried by the said bracket. To each of the shafts 18 and 19 is secured along one of its longitudinal edges a curtain 16, made of a suitable dust-proof material. These curtains are each provided at their lower longitudinal free edges with a somewhat heavy bar 16' for a purpose hereinafter to be described The curtains extend throughout the lengths of the shafts and carry each upon their meeting edges separable fastener elements 17, for instance, snap-fasteners, the female members of which are attached to one curtain of a set and the male members to the other one.

The operation of this device is as follows: The garment hangers 26 with the garments in position thereon are suspended from the longitudinal tie-rods 12 (Fig. 2). Normally the curtains extend down to the floor on which the rack stands, their snap-fasteners being in engagement, thereby providing, in cooperation with the top 15, a dust-proof covering for the garments. If it is intended to display the garments, the crank 22 is turned in the proper direction, that is to say in a direction to roll up the curtains on the shafts 18 and 19. As the crank is turned, the separable fasteners will automatically disengage themselves. It is to be observed that the turning of the crank 22 causes the four curtains to rise simultaneously. For the purpose of lowering the curtains, the handle 22 is turned in a direction opposite to the one above mentioned. The bars 16 aid the descent of the curtains. After the curtains have been lowered to the desired depth, the elements of the separable fasteners on the four curtains are brought into engagement.

The ratchet and pawl serves to keep the curtains in their raised positions. If the curtains are to be lowered, the pawl 24: must be disengaged from the ratchet-wheel 23 to permit the shafts to turn in the proper directions. The spring 25 returns the pawl to its operative position.

The garment rack herein described may be used in salesrooms for the purpose of storing garments, or it may be used as a dis play rack, in which case a smaller number of garments will be suspended therefrom in order to expose them properly to view.

What I claim is:

1. In a garment rack, the combination with a frame provided with supports from which garment hangers may be suspended, of a top-cover mounted upon said frame, a curtain below said cover adapted to inclose said frame, said curtain being made of a plurality of sections united by separable fasteners, and means for simultaneously raising or lowering, at will, all sections of said curtain.

2. In a garment rack, the combination with a frame including end sections and tie-rods connecting the same, said tie-rods serving as supports from which garment hangers may be suspended, of a top-cover mounted upon said frame and projecting in all directions beyond the latter, a curtain below said cover adapted to inclose said frame, said curtain being made of a plurality of sections united by separable fasteners, and means for simultaneously raising or lowering, at will, all sections of said curtain.

8. In a garment rack, the combination with a frame provided with supports from which garment hangers may be suspended, of brackets upon the corners of said frame projecting beyond the said corners, a top-cover mounted upon said brackets, shafts rotatably mounted upon said brackets encircling said frame, a curtain attached to each shaft, adjacent edges of said curtains being provided with co-acting separable fastener elements, and a gearing between said shafts whereby they are caused to rotate together, thereby simultaneously raising or lowering, at will, said curtains.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 31st day of August, A. D. 1916.

BERNIIARD BRAGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

